A button (of a joystick, joypad or similar device) that, when pressed, activates any of certain predefined functions that usually, but not always, involve selecting something out of a list of items.
"After navigating through the menu options on my game controller, I finally found the right button to select and start the level."
In plain English: A select is a person chosen from a group to do something special.
"The select few who won the lottery received free tickets to the concert."
To choose one or more elements of a set, especially a set of options.
"After reviewing the entire menu, she carefully selected three dishes that matched her dietary restrictions."
In plain English: To select something means to choose it from a group of options.
"She carefully selected the ripest apple from the basket."
selected or chosen for special qualifications
"the blue-ribbon event of the season"
Privileged, specially selected.
"The exclusive members of the club were invited to a select few dinners hosted by the founder."
In plain English: Select means being chosen or picked out from a group of options.
"She prefers a select group of friends to hang out with."
Usage: Use select as an adjective only before nouns to describe people or things that have been carefully chosen from many options, such as in the phrase "a select group." Avoid using it after a noun where you would normally use the verb form, and do not confuse this meaning with simply being exclusive.
The word "select" comes from the Latin sēlectus, which originally meant to choose something apart or without others. It entered English with this same sense of carefully picking items out of a group.